Excellence in Math
Dr. Bill Pfaffenberger, a pure mathematician, began teaching in UVic's Department of Mathematics and Statistics in 1969, retiring in September 2007. He earned a BA, MA and PhD from the University of Oregon and worked for two summers with the Naval Underwater Research Lab in the US before joining UVic. Bill was departmental chair from 1995 to 1997.
Bill held numerous executive posts in the UVic Faculty Association, including serving as association president five times: 1984-1985, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. In his Association roles, he championed librarians' issues and grievance issues, was a member and chief negotiator on the Salary and Benefits Negotiating and Framework Agreement Negotiating Teams and served as a member on the Joint Committee on the Administration of the Agreement (JCAA) and Advising and Dispute Resolution Committee (ADRC).
Bill served on the following Faculty Association Committees:
• Advising and Dispute Resolution Committee: 2002 to 2004
• Past President, Nominations and Elections Committee: 2002 to 2004
• Member, Salary and Benefits Negotiating Team: 1990 to 1991, 1994 to 1995, 2003 to 2004 and 2005 to 2006
• Chief Negotiator, Salary and Benefits Negotiating Team: 1996 to 1997 and 2001 to 2002
• Member, Framework Agreement Negotiating Team: 2000 and 2004
• Member, JCAA: 2002 to 2003 and 2005 to 2006
In 1994, Bill was awarded the UVic Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Bill served as chair of the Board of Pension Trustees from 1985 to 1996. He also served as an elected faculty representative on the UVic Board of Governors from 1990 to 1993 and 2002 to 2005.
One of Bill's many accomplishments included being the regional coordinator for national high school math competitions. Quite a number of high school math students with high test scores were being recruited to eastern universities. Bill devised the Excellence in Math Award program, through which top-ranked high school math students are offered an award based on their high scores in national math competitions in grades 11 and 12. This program has been extremely successful. The Excellence in Math Award program was established in 1991 and has flourished under Bill's guidance.